7 Things You Need to Do Everyday to Grow Your Business

As an entrepreneur, growing your business is something you should focus on everyday. Life gets busy and the pulls and tugs are constant. Since we are all human, priorities seem to slip, and one priority gets displaced by another all too frequently. That is just life, and life happens. When this does happen in your business, remember that there are the main staples in running a business that won’t change. Those “staples” are constant, and they don’t care what industry your business is in.

So, when you make the mistake that you are too busy to grow your business, take heart in knowing that there is a saving grace. Just remember seven things that you need to do everyday in your business, and you will in fact continue to grow…you will most likely even flourish!

Many times throughout the day, an entrepreneur can get sucked into time wasters that don’t have anything to do with growing your business. I could write volumes on this topic, and it is a never-ending struggle to stay focused on what you do best.

As entrepreneurs, we have to wear many hats – especially when a business is just starting out. Many things need to be delegated to others in order for the business to run smoothly and there are a few things that you just have to take care of yourself.

If you can create a habit of performing these 7 things every day, some for just a few minutes, then you will see your business grow, and you will increase your contacts, which in turn will help you increase your sales. This will happen right alongside your dreams. Here they are:

1. Plan for the future a few minutes each day. Assume that your product or services have stopped selling all of a sudden. What direction will you take your company next? What new income stream can you add? This is a time for daydreaming and recording notes in preparation for the future. You don’t necessarily have to take action on these items, but you need to think about them daily in order to bring out the golden ideas. Brainstorming is the key to formulating new innovative ideas. It’s not only good for planning, it is a lot of fun and when done with your team (internal and external) can break up the monotony of the day-to-day things you do in business.

2. Work on your marketing in some aspect every day to get new customers. If your prospective customers don’t know about you they won’t buy from you. Work on getting your message out every day even if it is just for a few minutes. This could be a blog, a Twitter post, or a Facebook entry. It could even be a call to an old acquaintance to tell them what you are doing in your business.

3. Work on closing a sale every single day. Whether you are doing this on-line, on the phone, through the mail, or face-to-face, you need to be selling every day. I know I don’t need to be so obvious, but I’m going to say it anyway…without the close of a sale there is no business. This is not something that you can always just delegate out to your team. Even if you have a sales force you need to be out there looking for deals. No one can sell your business better than you can. Your passion, dedication and determination make the top sales person in your company.

4. Develop or strengthen your business network. Just remember this one thing that you need to take care of today: Join or create a business network where you can help others and they can help you. This is a great place to get free customers through referrals and an excellent mentoring opportunity using the mastermind principle. Even if you join a networking group that is small in the beginning, take advantage of the opportunity to talk about your business. Introduce yourself to those that you haven’t met, even through email, or a phone call if you haven’t met them in person.

5. Contact your current customers. Don’t ever forget about the people that have already purchased from you. These are your best customers. They already like what you have to sell and they don’t cost anything to acquire. Contact your current customers frequently, even if you are just saying hello. They need to know what you have to offer and they need to know you are still breathing. They won’t seek you out. You must go to them. And bend over backwards to provide the best customer service you can muster. It is far more expensive replacing lost customers, than to just reach out to your current customer base.

6. Post something on a Social Media Site. Grow your brand and tell people what you are doing. As you start to build a following there are many people who will like what you say or offer. You can literally become a published author (if you aren’t already) and publish your own thoughts, ideas, wisdom, experience and know-how.

7. Do Something Good in Your Community. How many times have you thought about doing good things in your local market, or even nationwide, and helping out others in a charitable way? If you are like most small business owners, they have either thought about donating some of their resources to a charitable cause, or in many cases have actually gone out and started their own foundation. Doing good in your local community means that you are giving back to a charitable cause with your time, money, products, and services. This practice will easily pay for itself, and you will be doing good things that can impact many lives.

Brian is the Managing Partner of e3 Factor, a business training and coaching company, in Chandler, AZ. You can always reach Brian at bhazelgren@e3factor.com, or visit the website www.e3factor.com.